10 Things You Didn't Knew About Alena
The New Legend's black panther started as a relatively mysterious character even during her first adventures with those who would end up becoming not only her friends but also her family. However, as the story progressed, we learned more about her and, while she didn't got the best character development or exposition (from my point of view), most fans couldn't help but accept her as a part of the family. But even to this day, there's still some details about the New Legend's black panther that remains unknown. And today, we're here to count down the top 10 things you didn't knew about Alena:
#10: She have the most tragic childhood out of all her team
It's not unknown that the New Legend members had pretty harsh childhoods: Toka grew up without his parents and got rejected by everyone for being a feline; Koji grew up with a boring tribe that always partied for no reason and even after leaving them had to grow up seen as a looser by the other Kung Fu practicer; Suya grew up as a shy girl with almost no contact and only flowers to keep her company and doubted her talents for Kung Fu and becoming a brave warrior until she met Koji, and Neyo never got any friend due to his anti-social nature. However, even all of this doesn't compare to Alena: not only did she never met her mother and had a pretty negligent and uncaring father, but she even got sold off to Master Pan Mei who treated her in the worst way possible, giving her food only when she finished her harsh trainings, making her train until she bled, and even leaving her out in the wild to survive on her own. Think Toka and Koji's childhoods were sad? Think again.
#9: Even if she never said it, she actually saw Suya as a sister
Despite being the only girls in the New Legend, Alena and Suya never interacted that much outside of the group reunions. The reason being that while Suya is shy and girlish, Alena is pretty silent and though. However, they did have a few moments of fun together even though it has never been seen in the NLR saga. Actually, growing up with no girls around her, Alena actually felt some relief to have someone of her sex in the team. We could even say that she started seeing Suya as a little sister, always wanting to be there for her when she needed it.
#8: She could be half-Japanese
Now this is only speculations, but it's possible that Alena could have Japanese blood. Think about it: we know very little about her family ties except that her father was a crime boss. Also, during her trip to Japan, we learn that the goddesses who gave her her powers are from Japanese mythology (it's pretty odd that they would give their powers to a foreigner from China) and also, she seems to be pretty accustomed to the country's people just like they are with her. And I'm not even talking about her way of painting which is in Japanese patterns. Coincidences?
#7: For a time, she wasn't at ease to take baths or showers with anyone and not even girls
Alena always had to clean herself alone as there has never been anyone to help her with that task. Not when she lived with her and specially not when she was training with Pan Mei. Due to this, she didn't felt comfortable with taking baths or showers with other girls until a certain moment after joining the New Legend.
#6: She's a natural in the art of painting
As mentioned previously, Alena's favorite activity is painting and she's a genius at it. upon seeing her work for the first time, Master Crane was totally amazed by how she handled the work. In fact, some years after, even the greatest of China's artists recognized her talent and praised her. Had she not became a Kung Fu master, Alena could have made a career out of painting.
#5: She's inspired by One Piece's Nico Robin
It's no secret that the author likes to take inspiration from animes for his work. Alena is subject to this fact as he took inspiration from the Mugiwaras' archeologist when coming with the concept for Alena. The reason being that he didn't wanted to make a Tigress 2.0 and instead took inspiration from Nico Robin to create a mystery character.
#4: Her biggest phobia is deep water
Felines never liked water, but for Alena, it's completely a fear. Ever since she was a cub, Alena was always afraid of swimming in open water as she always feared something would jump from the water's depth to either kill her or worst, drag her down into the abyss. She always made sure Pan Mei never found out. Imagine what he would have done to her, have he learned her worst fear.
#3: She disliked Tigress and grew fond of Mantis
Most people who meet up with the Furious Five admire Tigress for her Kung Fu talents and dislike Mantis for being a macho guy most of the time. However, in Alena's case, it's the opposite: upon hearing about the first movie's events, she didn't really liked Tigress for being a jerk to a good guy like Po and actually became good friend with Mantis during their trip to Japan, even going to take a bath with him and Kasai. But she never went any further, don't worry. And she ended up respecting Tigress as time passed by.
#2: She actually cares for her look
Like I previously said, Alena is not very girly like Suya. However, what very little people knows is that she cares for her look a little bit. Like when she's alone, she checks at herself to see if she looks fat or if she smell bad. Also, when she went with Suya to buy a swimsuit for their summer break, she would try one and ask her friend if she looked good in what she tried and suya always assured her she was beautiful.
#1: She knew she was to get sacrificed sooner or later
In the "New Legends of Yin & Yang" crossover, we learn that Pan Mei intended to sacrifice Alena in order to obtain the sun and moon goddesses' powers through her. What was omitted to mention in that story was that Pan Mei never hidden this reality from Alena and told her at the very day one that he planned to give her "meaningless" life away to get this legendary power, though he wanted her to serve him before that fateful day. So, the poor black panther knew from the moment she started getting trained by Pan Mei to her time with the New Legend that her days were numbered. That's a cruel fate.
Did you learned anything new from Alena or did you already knew all the things I mentioned. Anyways, I sure hope you enjoyed this top 10 list. We did Koji, Toka and Alena. the next one will be Suya, and then Neyo.